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Whitmorr Labs
Whitmorr Labs Not much is known of this pre-war corporation. Many questions have been asked over the years about what they do and how they do it, but not even military personnel have gained access to their files, nor their compound in northern New York. What is known though, while little, points to Whitmorr Labs being first and foremost a military grade weapons manufacturer and inventor, being linked to some well known and used pieces of equipment over the years. We will try to document the little information we have as we find new reports. The company was founded by Rowan Whitmorr and, less-so, the remains of the Whitmorr Family. Jackson Whitmorr (Rowan's younger brother) served as Rowan's second-in-command and often dealt, in person, with business deals, sales, and making deals for the company. Their sister, youngest of the siblings, Clair Whitmorr, was known to be the financial adviser of the organization. Dominic Ryans had served the company for the least amount of time, and while his official position with the company is not recorded, he was labeled as Jackson's enforcer and bodyguard whenever in-person deals were being made. Dr. Richard LeVonse was the leading researcher on the Executive Board and multiple times has gone on record to only answer to Rowan, so we have no data on what exactly he researched. A previous employer of his, HalluciGen Inc., had recorded that he was let go after he was found to be becoming more and more fanatical with his research and was becoming obsessed with genetic mutations, bio-chemical weapons, and mind-control. After being fired from HalluciGen, Inc., LeVonse was picked up by police when he was was caught experimenting on a kidnapped subject. Rowan Whitmorr has been recorded as the one who paid LeVonse's bail, but his reasoning is still unknown. Known History and Legal Issues Whitmorr Labs was known for its secrecy, but it did have its public occurrences from time to time. The company started manufacturing during the summer of 2066. It began only as a middleman dealer that would make a quick buck off of buying up weapons and equipment from numerous companies and then selling it off to the highest bidders. With tensions across the planet on the rise, this was a lucrative business model to get into, but with no weight behind the Whitmorr name yet, sales were slow. As time went on, stockpiles grew and sales came almost to a hault, but light was on the horizon. That winter, the American forces stationed in Alaska were overrun by the Chinese Army and war was sure to be declared soon. Rowan Whitmorr saw it as an opportunity and began selling off their entire stock to the military, both American and Chinese. He knew playing both sides would be a dangerous deal, but it made him very rich in the process. Starting the next summer, the company began to go dark as contact with the outside world became more and more uncommon. Nobody is sure why or how the company became so secretive in such a short amount of time, but it was rumored that Rowan Whitmorr had joined a shadowy organization known as the Enclave during this time period (although, this has never been officially confirmed by either party). The next contact with the company comes a few years later (2072) when Clair Whitmorr claims that the now-corporation is going public with its views on politics. A great deal of Whitmorr money is then put into the campaign to annex Canada, while an even greater deal of funds in poured into the vault project by Vault-Tec. In a press conference held that summer by Clair and Jackson Whitmorr, it was announced that they would be personally overseeing the building of over 20 Vaults across the United States (although, only 13 are on recorded to be funded and fully built). This put Whitmorr Labs in good standing with the public and helped push the Vault-Tec agenda a bit further than before. While it was claimed the company was going public with its intentions, no other statements were made that year and few records of research or productions have been filed since. The company once again slipped back into the shadows in the world of war. None of the Whitmorr family are recorded in public until June 24th, 2074, when Rowan Whitmorr is seen with the President just before the World Powers negotiations were abruptly halted due to the President walking out of the hearings. The President declared that the rest of the dwindling oil reserves on the planet will belong exclusively to the United States government and the U.S. will not be selling it to any outside parties. No official documents explain why Rowan Whitmorr was there that day. In July of 2076, Whitmorr Labs opens a highly guarded compound somewhere in Boston. Only a single mention in a US Miltary record can confirm this and the whereabouts of the compound are yet to be discovered. November 29th of that same year, Rowan Whitmorr and Richard LeVonse were seen entering Fort Strong for the first time. They would then go on to be recorded entering the building every other day for the next month, and then once again in the middle of January. Whitmorr Labs then fell silent again, this time for the final instance. Rumors say that much of the Whitmorr family was in Boston at the time of the nuclear strikes, but other reports say they survived through unnatural means. What this means, we can not know. Fat Man Mini-Nuke Launchers We do not know exactly how much this company had to do with the invention or production of the Fat-Man Launchers, but it is known that Rowan Whitmorr's signature is on the product documents given to the President after the weapon's release. Developed within the confines of Fort Strong of Boston, Massachusetts, work on the Fat Man Launcher started in the spring of 2076. Riddled with issues from the very beginning of the project, the launched seemed doomed from the start. Issues with payload weight seemed to be the highest risk, too heavy of rounds not allowing the bomb to reach a distance far enough away to allow the shooter to remain safe. Two soldiers were killed in the initial testing, deeming the project as an early failure. The incident was covered up by the overseeing officer and no remains were recovered for the victims. December of that year saw a breakthrough where a type of catapult system fixed the issue of getting payloads far enough away from the user to be effective. After over 100 test fires, September of 2077 saw the Mini-Nuke launcher ready to be shipped overseas for mass use against the Chinese Army. A select number of warheads were also shipped around to special locations across the United States, three of which locations had ties to Whitmorr Labs. Beta FEV Richard LeVonse was known to experiment with genetic mutation during his time at HalluciGen, Inc., whether illegal or scientific. Not a lot is known about these experiments though as HalluciGen attempted to throw out all of his documents upon firing him. After scavenging the remnants of Raven Rock in the D.C. area, looters came across pieces of evidence that ties LeVonse to the FEV virus used by the Enclave. Among a pile of official files was two documents; one was a brittle, old paper preserved in glass with uninformative sketching of genetic code and algorithms, with a signature on the bottom signed only as "LeVonse". The other paper was a decoded telegram dated 2252 that simply said "we found LeVonse and his employer in the Commonwealth, although they aren't quite in the condition we expected. We will commence a capture and deliver mission right away. Standby for further communication". No other documents explain the outcome of this mission, but the report of three Enclave soldier deaths in the Commonwealth from that same date are presumed to be the soldiers heard from in the telegram. No reports explain how they died. The genetic scratchings on the original document seem to be relatively close to the composition of the FEV Virus. Whether this document inspired the FEV or it was completely coincidence in unknown, but the document has come to be known as the Beta FEV since its discovery. Rowan Whitmorr Rowan Whitmorr was born in Boston long before the Great War. Not much in known about his true age, but it is said that he looked to be in his fifties when he was last seen leaving Fort Strong in 2077. He was a shorter man, athletic build and clearly kept care over his health. His hair was mostly grey by the time his company publicly endorsed Vault-Tec, and he always wore a dark charcoal three-piece suit with dark leather shoes. Rowan started school in lower Boston where he often highly excelled in his grades. Although he had no issue learning, his counselors often showed worry over his obsession with dictatorships and war atrocities. Many marked it down as childhood curiosity and let it go as he would never show signs of aggression or anger. His teachers would often remark that "boys love war, that's all". After graduating high school, Rowan entered the military. He quickly promoted through the lower ranks, but eventually plateaued. This often seemed to be a source of stress for him according to his peers and he would openly oppose those of higher rank. He developed a strong sense of rebellion against authority and grew to hate his superiors. This hate culminated when he attacked a General during a debriefing and was dishonorably discharged, eventually being placed in a psyche ward. During his time in the ward, he began to study revolutions and unrest within historical civilizations. He was intrigued with the idea that little issues can gather and grow until they unravel an entire society. While some saw his studies as a red flag, ward staff eventually let him go after they deemed him rehabilitated. He left the ward in search of his family. Years later, Rowan came together with his family to found their weapons company. His history becomes muddied after this point with no further details coming out until the day he bailed out LeVonse. Witnesses say that Rowan 'interviewed' LeVonse in a public cafe shortly after he was released from jail. Nobody has a clear transcript of what was talking about, but it is said that they mentioned many things such as 'civil unrest, weapon manufacturing, genetic experiments, prolonging life and escaping death, bio-weapons, the vault project, the effect of radiation on bio-materials, the perfect weapon,' and so on. Rowan then again disappeared from the public spotlight and wasn't seen again until entering Fort Strong in 2076.